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The Tasweer-e-Zindagi Street Children Photovoice project was a collaboration between Interactive Research Development (IRD) and the Azad Foundation

We worked with street children in Shireen Jinnah Colony and Nipa Chowrangi. The children were trained in basic photography and were then asked to take photographs of their experiences, sources of support, challenges and aspirations.

Through these photographs, the project aimed to understand the experiences of street children and advocate for more a supportive environment for them.

This is a donkey cart. He takes wood in it and sells it. He chops it. He has a machine for it. After cutting it, he takes it in a rickshaw to sell. Riding the donkey cart is a lot of fun.

13-year-old boy

This is our scrap yard. I currently work here. All this stuff belongs to the owner of the scrap yard.

14-year-old boy

There was a dog and she had this puppy. He was somewhere far away so we brought him over to our scrap yard. We collected a small amount of money, twenty or thirty rupees, or five rupees from each person to get milk for him. He grew up – we really like him. His name is doggy. He lives next to your scrap yard. He had a hole under his head. We got medicine for sixty rupees, held him by his mouth and legs, and all the bugs came out. He was completely fine after two or three days.

Meraj, a 15-year-old boy

This is the water where we all bathe. We pick through the trash on the other side of the water.

Abdullah, a 8-year-old boy

This is the trash pile. Every day, we sit here and wait for the trash to come. It comes from the buildings. It is also brought by cars. When they dump it, we put on gloves and sort through the trash to look for something that we can sell to the scrap yard. We work here from morning to evening. We wait for the trash and then sort through it. In the evening, we sell the stuff to the scrap yard to earn some money.

Siraj, a 13-year-old boy

Asif and Abdullah are in this picture. The trash truck came and dumped the trash. Then these boys were looking for something in the trash and fell asleep. They are just pretending to sleep, they don’t actually sleep there. This trash is burning. The men who own the dumper come and set it on fire. They say it has a lot of precious items.

Siraj, a 13-year-old boy

He was hitting me to make me work. I was not working. He is the owner of this garbage dump. This garbage dump used to be ours before. After the morning call for prayers, we would leave to work at the garbage dump.

Siraj, a 13-year-old boy

This is a house. The car owner accused our friend of theft. He told him, ‘You broke the car window’. He [My friend] ran away from there and now he picks trash at Teen Talwar or hyperstar. He did not commit crime this time. Other people broke it [the window].

Asif, a 12-year-old boy

There was a man who came here in a van from the mosque. He emptied his van. He had two sacks with him. The sacks contained sections of the Quran. He picked up one sack, I picked up the other, and we took the sacks to the sea.

Ayatullah, a 16-year-old boy

This is Kamran – my mentor. He works as a mechanic. He told me that if I work for him, he would give me 100 rupees as earnings. I told him that I want to go to school. He said that I could go to school and study lessons, he couldn’t care less.

Asif, a 12-year-old boy

This is Shakeela. She plays with the kids. I don’t play with her, I teach her. I hold her hand and show her how to strike marbles.

Muneer, a 9-year-old boy

This is my friend Basheera, and I don’t know the other girl’s name. We play tag. She makes me run.

12-year-old girl

I clean cars. I earn around 150 rupees or 200 rupees”. [I have been cleaning cars] for two months. I used to beg before that. [I used to earn] 150 rupees doing that. I did not like doing that. Begging is not right.

Waheed, a 9-year-old boy

There’s no electricity at home. I sit here. It’s hot. The power is out every day for three hours each time. It goes out at 9:00am and comes back at 12:00pm. Then it goes at 2:00pm and comes back around 5:30-6:00pm. Then it goes again at 8:00pm and comes back at 10:00pm. It’s very hot and sunny.

Ayatullah, a 16-year-old boy

There is a car. I will tell the village folk that this is a car. You get cars are like this [in the city]. They will say, ‘Does this car exist? Do cars like this really exist?’ There are no cars in the village, just bikes and rickshaws.

Waheed, an 9-year-old boy

Siraj’s foot was dirty so he told me that he was going to dive [in the water]. When it’s very sunny, we bathe here. When we’re itchy, we bathe here. When it’s really hot and we feel hot, we bathe here.

11-year-old boy

When I went to the scrapyard, I collected the scrap material. There were scrap metals on one side and a sack full of broken glass on the other. I was passing by there. I put one foot forward but when I put the other foot forward, it got hurt. I looked at it and said, ‘This is a bad cut!’ The scrap yard owner immediately brought over cloth and wrapped it. He offered to take me to the doctor on his bicycle but I refused and said I’d walk there on my own. Then I walked home. When my mother saw me, she rushed me to the doctor. He bandaged it. It cost 250 rupees in a single day. After two days, I noticed the bandage was really badly stained with blood. Then I went to another doctor. He also bandaged it. He charged me approximately 150-200 rupees.

Ayatullah, a 16-year-old boy.

This is my sister. Her name is Naida. She will work when she grows up. She will cook roti for my brother and sweep the house. I will send her to the village. I will have her educated in the village, not here. She will get in the habit of begging here. When she is a little older, we will go to the village. Once she is educated, she will find a good job. After getting educated, she will become an important person. She will find a job, become a doctor.

Ayaaz, a 11-year-old boy

I am standing in front of the bus. We like this bus because we study inside it.

Ayaaz, a 11-year-old boy

He [extreme right] sells banana juice. Sometimes he gives us a banana. He protects us from those who fight with us. Sometimes when we have fights and someone snatches our money, we tell these guys and then they protect us.

Nadeem, a 11-year-old boy

This is my brother, Dilshad. When I don’t earn any money, he gives me 30, 40 or 50 rupees. He begs for a living. He wanted to sell tissues. I asked him what would happen if someone snatched the money he made from selling tissues. He said he would get a beating at home [Nobody can steal the money he makes from begging because] there are policemen stationed there.

Nadeem, a 11-year-old boy

CALL FOR ACTION

We, the participants of the Tasweer-e-Zindagi project, call for support for the following six steps to be
taken to reduce the spread of this disease and to create a supportive environment for people affected by
TB.

IN THE NEWS

The Tasweer-e-Zindagi gallery event received coverage in eight leading English language papers in
Pakistan, nine Urdu newspapers, and several online sources. Seven leading television news channels also
covered the event.

PUBLICATIONS

This study provides a look at the complexities surrounding TB and emphasizes the need for holistic
interventions for TB that address all aspects of the disease, including its social determinants. It also
highlights the potential of Photovoice as an effective means to bring much-needed attention to this
disease.

TASWEER-E-ZINDAGI FILM

This film provides an overview of the Tasweer-e-Zindagi TB Photovoice project, a PhotoVoice project with
people affected by TB. TB patients, their family members, and TB treatment supporters were given cameras
and asked to document their experiences, challenges, and supportive factors. This film shares the
experiences of participants during the project.